Suns ready to launch Rocket

Gold Coast closes in on Rodney Eade to coach the club. Picture: Wayne Ludbey Source: News Limited

RODNEY Eade is on the verge of a return to senior coaching with the Gold Coast.

The Suns headhunted the former Sydney and Bulldogs coach and are now in negotiations with him over a three-year deal to return to coaching after a stint as head of football at Collingwood.

The panel formed to select Guy McKenna's replacement met in Melbourne on Monday where Eade was confirmed as the preferred candidate on a three-man shortlist that also includes highly rated Suns assistant coaches Dean Solomon and Andrew Lovell.

Should the Suns fail to lure Eade out of Collingwood – the position would go to one of the duo who were encouraged to apply for the position and impressed during two rounds of interviews.

Eade did not formally apply for the position and did not present during the preliminary rounds but met with Suns officials over the weekend.

It is understood a second meeting took place on Monday in Melbourne. It is believed Hawks premiership assistants Brendon Bolton and Luke Beveridge and former Adelaide coach Neil Craig were the other candidates to make it through to the second round of interviews.

Suns CEO Andrew Travis confirmed the selection panel had met on Monday and said an appointment would be made in the coming days.

Hawthorn assistant Brendon Bolton was high on Gold Coast's pecking order. Picture: Wayne Ludbey Source: News Corp Australia

He confirmed the six-man shortlist had been whittled down to three but refused to reveal any names.

"We are down to the final few,'' he said.

Suns chairman John Witheriff said the panel was given the discretionary powers to choose the next coach but the decision would have to be ratified by the board.

A board meeting will be called for later this week.

"I am expecting after today's meeting the committee will have a reasonably clear view of who they want to consider for the position,'' he said.

Meanwhile, McKenna is set to join the AFL in a player development role. He is in talks with the league over a job with the AFL's Australian Institute of Sports program.

He will move to Melbourne in the coming weeks and has placed his Robina house on the market.

The move rules McKenna out of the race for the vacant position at the Bulldogs, who are looking for a replacement for sacked coach Brendan McCartney.

It was announced on Monday that McCartney has joined Melbourne as a development and strategy coach.

The 54-year-old made his name as a development coach at Geelong under Mark Thompson, he then joined the former Cats boss at Essendon before being appointed to the Bulldogs in 2012.

His three-year tenure at the Western Bulldogs ended abruptly when he resigned the day after former skipper Ryan Griffen informed the club he wanted to be traded to Greater Western Sydney.

with Sam Landsberger

Originally published as Suns ready to launch Rocket

20.11 | 0 komentar | Read More

Gray will be at Port until end of 2018

Robbie Gray in action for the Power against Richmond. Picture: Sarah Reed Source: News Corp Australia

PORT Adelaide and star midfielder Robbie Gray have agreed on the value of the All-Australian's signature on a new contract.

All that needs to be resolved is the term of his new deal at Alberton.

As reported in The Advertiser in September — when Gray earned his first All-Australian honours — the Power and Gray's management are in agreement on how much to pay the 26-year-old Victorian midfielder-forward, who this year won the John Cahill Medal as club champion.

Robbie Gray after winning the John Cahill Medal as the Power's best-and-fairest player. Picture: Tait Schmaal Source: News Corp Australia

Port would prefer a three-year contract extension which would take Gray out of next year's free agency field. Gray is currently on contract to the end of next season — and is prepared to consider a longer term.

The long-running talks between Port and Gray's management will resume in a fortnight when Gray returns from his overseas holiday.

"We have been talking for a while," Power football chief Peter Rohde said tonight. "And we are hopeful we will finalise a deal in the off-season."

20.11 | 0 komentar | Read More

Hird ready to plan Dons’ summer

Essendon recruit Adam Cooney admits it was bittersweet to leave the Bulldogs and move to the Bombers in a trade for pick 37 at next month's draft. Cooney says the lure of playing at a 'big club' was main reason for his move.

James Hird exercising on the oval at Essendon's training facility. Picture: Hamish Blair Source: News Corp Australia

ESSENDON can look forward to a "meat and potatoes type pre-season" as James Hird takes the reins of his side for its 2015 campaign.

Hird is back in charge after the Bombers board backed him to retain the top job earlier this month.

And after returning from overseas where he was finishing some studies, Hird is looking forward to planning the club's pre-season with his assistants.

WINDERS: VETERAN BOMBER SHELVES RETIREMENT

Hird said the Bombers, like other clubs, would scale back their high-altitude activity this summer.

A smaller group of just four or five players will travel to Colorado in December but the majority of the club's playing group will stay at its Tullamarine base.

Essendon coach James Hird at Essendon's training facility with Neil Craig. Picture: Hamish Blair Source: News Corp Australia

Earlier this month Hird said his club would stay closer to home to work on specific requirements.

"We will train pretty hard, it will be a meat and potatoes type pre-season but one where we work on all things we need to work on to get them in the conditioning they need to be in throughout the year," he told essendonfc.com.au.

RING-A-DING: BELLCHAMBERS LOOKING GOOD

This week the Bombers will narrow their focus on the long summer ahead.

"At the beginning of this week the coaches start to come back from their break," Essendon high performance manager Neil Craig told the Bombers' website.

"James comes back from overseas over the weekend and he is really keen to sit down with Mark Harvey, Nathan Bassett and Matty Egan to plan.

"They have done some planning but this is about 'let's really roll up the sleeves and get the detail into the program'.

"The players start to come back the week after and then all of a sudden it is back on you again so it is amazing how quickly it comes around."

Essendon's youngsters, including the likes of Dyson Heppell and Jake Carlisle, return to training on November 5.

Originally published as Hird ready to plan Dons' summer

20.11 | 0 komentar | Read More

Clubs cash in on poker machines

AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan says gaming revenue is a chief reason why the league has introduced equalisation measures Picture: Phil Hillyard Source: News Corp Australia

VICTORIAN AFL clubs creamed more than $88 million from pokies punters in the last financial year, with Hawthorn and Carlton leading the way.

Gaming revenue has become such a factor in football that AFL boss Gillon McLachlan recently cited it as one of four chief reasons why the league had introduced equalisation measures.

The 19 gaming venues operated by the AFL clubs generated $88.7m in net gaming revenue, according figures published by the industry regulator.

North Melbourne is the only Victorian AFL club not to have poker machines.

Net gaming revenue is what the machines take after winnings. The figures do not represent the profits made by clubs.

Hawthorn's club Vegas at Waverley Gardens generated almost $11m while its 73 per cent interest in the West Waters Hotel brought in a further $7.6m.

Carlton's four pokies clubs took $17.5m, Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation figures show.

Figures have revealed Hawthorn and Carlton were the biggest winners from gaming revenue last financial year. Picture: Wayne Ludbey Source: News Corp Australia

Collingwood and Essendon also generated more than $10m in the year to the end of June.

Speaking at a recent business event, McLachlan named gaming revenue as one of the factors that prompted the league's recent competitive balance push.

"Equalisation is characterised as taking from the rich and giving to the poor — but what it is actually for is to compensate the smaller clubs for the structural inequities they have in their business," McLachlan said.

"They are their stadium deals — some have got good ones, some have got bad ones; the size of their supporter base, and that is an historical thing; the fixture which has some indirect structural stuff in their like Anzac Day and others; and the fourth one is gaming, where some clubs — you take a Hawthorn who make about a $4 million net profit out of their gaming business — and in Western Australia, you can't own machines."

In 2012, then AFL boss Andrew Demetriou said clubs had shown interest in getting out of pokies, but since then the number of machines run by AFL clubs has grown.

Next year, the Western Bulldogs will more than double their stake in pokies, when 70 machines go on line at the club's long-awaited Edgewater development in Maribyrnong.

*****

Victorian AFL clubs and their pokie takes in 2013-14

CARL $17.5m (4 pokie clubs)

COLL $12.7m (3)

ESS $11.9m (2)

GEEL $8m (2)

HAW $18.6m (2)

MEL $9.4m (2)

NM — Nil

RICH $4.1m (1)

STK $2.2m (1)

WB $4.3m (2)

TOTAL = 19 pokie clubs — $88.7m

* SOURCE: Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation

** Net gaming revenue is the total amount lost by players in the 2013/14 financial year

Originally published as Clubs cash in on poker machines

20.11 | 0 komentar | Read More

Boyd departs Giants for Griffen and picks

Tom Boyd traded to Western Bulldogs. Picture: Michael Klein Source: News Corp Australia

IF Tom Boyd doesn't want to be a Giant then the Giants players and coaches don't want him.

That's the game-changer which has seen Boyd swapped to the Western Bulldogs for their captain Ryan Griffen move the Giants along with pick six in the draft and a large slice of salary cap relief.

On Monday and Tuesday GWS were adamant the number one draft pick was going nowhere but on Wednesday the massive deal was done.

After just nine games and eight goals Boyd will become one of the AFL's richest players signing a Buddy Franklin type deal worth $7 million over seven years.

"If someone doesn't want to be part of this footy club you have to look to see if you can get a suitable trade," Giants coach Leon Cameron told the Daily Telegraph.

"Clearly he's stated his intentions that his future was elsewhere, you work through that and see whether it's workable or not and after consulting with our leadership group and having a good think about it and he was probably lost to us so you wish him all the best at his new footy club.

"We're rapt to have Ryan Griffen and Joel Patfull (Brisbane Lions) come in and go to the draft again (with picks 4, 6 and 7). It's a great endorsement of our footy club and the direction we're going in."

The worry for the Giants will be the message it sends to a host of their young stars who are out of contract at the end of next season- If they are prepared to trade a number one draft pick like Boyd what is stopping GWS from trading them?

Jeremy Cameron, Adam Treloar, Dylan Shiel, Stephen Coniglio, Will Hoskin-Elliott, Devon Smith and Adam Tomlinson are all in the final year of their agreements.

"We have to work hard on making sure our players are in a great environment and our culture is heading in the right direction," Cameron said.

"If people buy into the footy club then we've got them for life, they invest in the footy club like someone buying shares. We feel as though the majority of our players are doing that year by year under tough circumstances.

"If you create a good club players want to buy in and 90 per cent of our players have. They also understand the dream of where we want to get this club to. Guys like Adam Treloar, Devon Smith and Jeremy Cameron and Jonathon Patton they can all see that.

They can see the vision, the mateship and how we started from scratch.

"If some players can't see that you try to convince them that it's going to be a great club, if you can't see that in individuals it becomes about how you can negotiate the best outcome for the footy club."

The Giants have lost Boyd but now have two more experienced quality players in their prime. They also have picks 4, 6 and 7 which could still be traded for St Kilda's number one pick or for another senior player. The salary cap relief will be $1 million over four years and could prove vital when it comes to re-signing some of their talented youngsters.

"Ryan Griffen and Joel Patfull add value to our list and that comes after adding Shane Mumford and Rhyce Shaw this year. It balances our list and helps our young players understand how hard AFL is but also how exciting it can be if we get it right.

"We feel like we're getting it right."

Originally published as Boyd departs Giants for Griffen and picks

20.11 | 0 komentar | Read More

Bulldogs buy Boyd in Buddy-style coup

Tom Boyd is on his way to the Whitten Oval. Picture: Phil Hillyard Source: News Corp Australia

TOM Boyd has joined Western Bulldogs on a Buddy Franklin-style contract after a sensational about-face by Greater Western Sydney.

The Giants stated on Monday that "under no circumstance" would they release last year's No. 1 draft pick and they took an even stronger stance on Wednesday.

But the Bulldogs on Wednesday sealed a deal to send disaffected captain Ryan Griffen and their prized No. 6 pick to the Giants in exchange for the 200cm, 104kg monster likened to Tom Hawkins.

Giants chief executive David Matthews said Boyd's position had become untenable as the players no longer wanted him.

Boyd, 19, will earn his base draft salary next season — about $180,000 — and his annual salary will then skyrocket to more than $1 million, making him the richest Bulldogs player in history.

He played nine AFL games this year.

Tom Boyd is a much-needed power forward for the Bulldogs. Picture: Simon Cross Source: News Corp Australia

The Bulldogs will also pay about a third of Griffen's 2015 salary, believed to be around $650,000.

The Herald Sun has been told that the subsidy for Griffen extends beyond next year.

Dogs president Peter Gordon said on Monday that a straight Griffen-Boyd swap was "fair and equitable" but the Dogs threw in their first pick to land their man.

The shock exchange leaves the Dogs without a captain and coach but with the young power forward they have craved.

Senior assistant Brett Montgomery is favourite to win the vacant coaching post.

PICK ME: WHAT'S ALL THE BOYD FUSS ABOUT?

Dogs chief executive Simon Garlick said the move to sign Boyd until 2021 was a "really strong, prudent and responsible decision".

Prominent player agent Liam Pickering orchestrated both Boyd and Franklin's deals — Franklin's $10 million for nine years at the Swans — with the Giants missing out on Franklin and now losing Boyd.

Boyd is in Thailand but will be unveiled by the Dogs next week.

All eyes will be on Victorian Tom Boyd at the AFL draft, with the highly-rated forward expected to be recruited as the number one pick by the GWS Giants.

Dogs chief executive Simon Garlick said the deal, "out of circumstances that were far from ideal (Griffen walking out) ... is a magnificent outcome".

"There will be conjecture ... some people think we might have paid overs or given them a bit much," he told AFL Trade Radio.

"But we think it's a really strong, prudent and responsible decision."

Pickering was adamant on Wednesday that if the Giants held Boyd to his contract next year he would walk after the season.

In a parting whack, Matthews said Giants coach Leon Cameron had consulted the leadership group about Boyd's intentions.

"We are proud to represent western Sydney and Canberra and it's critical that our players share that value," he said.

"Clearly Tom doesn't and the best course of action is for him to leave the club."

Ryan Griffen will head to GWS. Picture: Michael Klein Source: News Corp Australia

The Giants' sole All-Australian, Jeremy Cameron, tweeted: "Yes! A city slicker for a pig shooter."

Griffen was due to return from a hunting expedition in South Australia today to explain his controversial move north.

Cameron headlines a list of prized baby Giants out of contract next season with Victorian clubs now expected to queue up with bags of money.

There were concerns over Boyd's management at GWS this year with the power forward bulking up too much, limiting his mobility and speed.

He was told to strip back down late in the season.

Recruiting experts rated Boyd the standout No. 1 pick in the draft era before his name was read out last year.

Originally published as Bulldogs buy Boyd in Buddy-style coup

20.11 | 0 komentar | Read More